It's a horse you could beat into the ground pretty easily, and I guess I am. Iowa's nonconference basketball schedule wasn't just lackluster, it was lousy.

But the Hawkeyes did play as many future NCAA tournament teams in the nonconference (3) as Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota, and as many future postseason teams (5) as Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State.

Still, a lot of flotsam and jetsam visited Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The eight teams Iowa faced that didn't go to the postseason had a combined record of 65-169 record against Division I competition. That's an average of 21 losses per team, and that's where Iowa's RPI plunged. Had a few of those teams simply been more competitive, well, who knows? It might not have gotten Iowa into the NCAAs, but it would have made the discussion even more interesting.

Ah well. Maybe next year.

Here is the rundown of the nonconference teams Big Ten clubs faced who are playing ball this week in either the NCAA tourney, the NIT, the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) or the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT):

Iowa (5)

NCAA: Western Kentucky, Wichita State, Iowa State

CIT: Gardner-Webb, Northern Iowa

Illinois (7)

NCAA: Gonzaga, Butler, Missouri

NIT: Norfolk State

CIT: Hawaii, Gardner-Webb, Eastern Kentucky

Indiana (5)

NCAA: Georgetown, North Carolina, Butler

CBI: Bryant, North Dakota State

Michigan (5)

NCAA: Pittsburgh, Kansas State

NIT: Arkansas

CBI: Western Michigan

CIT: Bradley

Michigan State (5)

NCAA: Kansas, Boise State, Miami

CBI: Texas

CIT: Oakland

Minnesota (8)

NCAA: Duke, Memphis, South Dakota State

NIT: Stanford, Florida State

CBI: Richmond, North Dakota State

CIT: Tennessee State

Nebraska (7)

NCAA: Creighton, Southern, Valparaiso, Oregon

NIT: UTEP

CIT: Tulane, Kent State

Northwestern (5)

NCAA: Butler

NIT: Maryland, Baylor, Stanford

CIT: Illinois-Chicago

Ohio State (7)

NCAA: Albany, Duke, Kansas

NIT: Washington, Long Beach State

CIT: Savannah State, Chicago State (Note: Chicago State is in the CIT with an 11-21 record by virtue of being the Great West Conference champion. There will be a pep rally at Chicago State's campus before the team leaves campus to travel from Chicago State to Illinois-Chicago.)

Penn State (5)

NCAA: Bucknell, North Carolina State, LaSalle, Akron

NIT: Providence

Purdue (3)

NCAA: Bucknell, Villanova, Notre Dame

Wisconsin (7)

NCAA: Florida, Creighton, California, Marquette

NIT: Arkansas, Virginia

CIT: Green Bay

In addition:

These teams aren't going to postseason tourneys, but probably could have. Except for Connecticut, which is on NCAA probation.

Connecticut (20-10): Played Michigan State

Illinois State (18-15): Played Northwestern

Georgia Tech (16-15): Played Illinois

Xavier (17-14): Played Purdue

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